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Post by Scott on Jul 22, 2007 18:42:16 GMT -5
Anybody else a fan of the series? I picked it up. I'm still reading it, so no spoilers yet. I do like it so far.
Scott
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Post by Scott on Jul 31, 2007 19:55:53 GMT -5
So no interest in Harry Potter here, huh? I'm a little surprised.
Scott
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Post by geneweigel on Jul 31, 2007 22:48:17 GMT -5
Nope, my family's kids were out of that age group before Potter started and the new generation is too small for it. So I'm not really up for it. If I wanted to read that category for kicks (like many adults do) then I'd probably start on the Bobbsey Twins (I was a fan when I was 8. Don't tell anybody. Oh, damn this is the net! Now everybody knows! )
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Post by Scott on Jul 31, 2007 22:59:23 GMT -5
I do highly recommend the series. The first two books are definitely on the younger reader side, but the series matures quickly after that. Rowling is an excellent story teller from the beginning, but you can really see her develop as a writer as the series progresses. She does tend to get a little long winded in some of the later books though.
Scott
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 26, 2018 16:14:57 GMT -5
On your recommendation and that of others, I'm finally reading the Harry Potter series. I'm currently on book 2. She is a good writer and the story pulls me along effortlessly. I am not a big fan of whimsy, such as with the "Nimbus 2000 broomstick" and that sort of thing. But she sketches out interesting characters and interactions, and does impressive world-building. My niece had me go on Pottermore and take the Sorting Hat test, and I am in Hufflepuff. So, I guess I'm a Potterhead now.
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Post by Scott on Nov 26, 2018 19:16:13 GMT -5
One of the interesting aspects of the series is you can watch her develop as a writer. She's a good story teller all along, and you can see her become a better writer as the series progresses. The series peaks, where the story telling and writing are at their best, at the 3rd and 4th books. After that it seems like she took on more than she could handle, and the story is not so tight after that point.
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Post by Scott on Nov 26, 2018 19:27:39 GMT -5
The Fantastic Beasts movies are pretty good too.
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Post by grodog on Nov 26, 2018 23:31:57 GMT -5
Books 3 and 5 are my favorites in the series, although 1-5 in general are quite good. Henry's been reading them, and is on #5 now, and we've been re-watching the films as Henry completes the books.
We're going to see Fantastic Beasts #2 this coming weekend, too.
Allan.
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 27, 2018 8:59:02 GMT -5
It appears there are no books corresponding to the "Fantastic Beasts" movies. Is that right? I mean, I know these movies are based on fictional books in Harry Potter's world, but there do not seem to be novelizations of them -- only scripts written by J. K. Rowling directly for the movies -- which, if so, is disappointing. I prefer reading the books before seeing the movies, when I can. I've only seen this series up to "Goblet of Fire" and I want to finish the books before seeing the rest of the Harry Potter movies as well as the "Fanastic Beasts" movies.
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Post by grodog on Nov 27, 2018 9:37:04 GMT -5
The "Fantastic Beasts" films are set in the past of the Harry Potter books, so you're not missing much if you watch them. The FB films do include some minor spoilers about one or two of the characters for some of the later books in the series, but those figures are not central to the books at all, just present in background/historical details.
Allan.
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Post by Scott on Nov 27, 2018 10:13:19 GMT -5
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newt Scamander was a fictional text book in the series. There was a print version released, but it was just a text book, no story. The scripts make the author into a protagonist involved in other history mentioned in the books. I would have liked to read the stories as books, but I have liked the films.
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Post by GRWelsh on Nov 30, 2018 9:29:54 GMT -5
I finished Book 2 and have started Book 3. I joined Kindle Unlimited for three months since they have all of the Harry Potter books ($0.99 for three months isn't a bad deal to get me through the winter). I should make game-related notes as I read this series. Whimsy isn't my thing, but a school of wizardry as an adventure setting or background is interesting, especially with the rival factions who don't all trust each other (that's rather Gygaxian, isn't it?). The enchanted diary is a great magic item idea!
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Post by grodog on Nov 30, 2018 14:53:50 GMT -5
Agreed. Even if you don't go with the whole "magic-user public education system" approach, taking ideas from the books for a specific guild of wizards in one city, region, or country (a nationalized guild) will offer many opportunities to make such MU institutions more interesting as the creative inspirations begin to fire.
Allan.
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Post by GRWelsh on Dec 11, 2018 11:31:06 GMT -5
I'm finishing up Book 3 now. The magic item that sticks out for me in this one is "The Marauders' Map," an enchanted map that shows secret passages and the locations of people in the castle. That would make a great D&D magic item, as I was envisioning a thief or stealthy party sneaking through a dungeon and using such an item to avoid or choose encounters. I also like some of Rowling's little touches, like having hippogriffs be proud and the custom of bowing to them to see if they bow back to initiate some trust. I've enjoyed this book the most of the three so far, since it adds depth to the story -- we learn more about the previous generation: Harry's parents and their friends, Snape, etc. Bloody brilliant!
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Post by grodog on Dec 14, 2018 0:40:19 GMT -5
I'm finishing up Book 3 now. The magic item that sticks out for me in this one is "The Marauders' Map," an enchanted map that shows secret passages and the locations of people in the castle. That would make a great D&D magic item, as I was envisioning a thief or stealthy party sneaking through a dungeon and using such an item to avoid or choose encounters. I also like some of Rowling's little touches, like having hippogriffs be proud and the custom of bowing to them to see if they bow back to initiate some trust. I've enjoyed this book the most of the three so far, since it adds depth to the story -- we learn more about the previous generation: Harry's parents and their friends, Snape, etc. Bloody brilliant! There's actually at least one item like that detailed in a Dragon article: check out “The Magical Maps of Greyhawk” by Lee Ian Wurn in issue #125 (September 1987). At least one of his magical maps automatically (and accurately) renders the characters’ surrounding environs! Allan.
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Post by GRWelsh on Dec 30, 2018 22:50:05 GMT -5
I started book 5 on Christmas Day and I’m halfway through it now. The portkeys of book 4 seem like D&D magic items all the way down to their mundane or even at times shabby appearance. House-elves remind me of brownies from folklore and sandestins from Vance, but with an original twist of being lower class British servants... You can imagine a crossover with Hermione saying to Samwise “Stop calling Frodo your ‘master’! Is he paying you overtime for going to Mordor?”
P. S. It has slowly dawned on me that Hermione Jean Granger is a younger version of the author, Joanne Rowling herself, yet without being an all-powerful 'Mary Sue' character.
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Post by grodog on Jan 1, 2019 23:23:59 GMT -5
Henry finished up the last book tonight, so we'll watch "The Deathly Hallows" tomorrow night over dinner, probably.
Allan.
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Post by GRWelsh on Jan 2, 2019 17:25:08 GMT -5
My niece and one of my nephews have read all the books, and they have all of the movies. Once I finish the books they want to have a movie marathon with me. I am enjoying the magic with these books, and there is a lot that could be adapted to D&D, even some of the joke stuff, as cantrips, sprite curses, etc. The "Headless Hat" for example turns your head -- and only your head -- invisible, which seems somewhat worthless but could be used to peer around corners without being seen or may have other uses by creative players. The Room of Requirement is a neat idea since it may appear differently each time it is visited -- this reminds me of the some of the 'trick' areas EGG was fond of placing in his dungeons. The dementors would be great as D&D monsters since they cause fear and despair and can suck out your soul. Voldemort possessing others and regaining his own body reminds me of certain D&D spells, like magic jar, clone, and homonculous creation. The Dark Mark obviously is like the geas spell, but also has some communicative magic to it, and could inspire a sort of blood oath spell or ritual for servitude. Paintings and diaries seem to be able to store partial personalities similar to the simulacrum spell.
Dolores Umbridge is one of the great villains of literature! What an inspired idea, to have 'administrative red tape' be the villain for most of a book! Ha, I never saw that coming, but it provides a nice additional angle to the standard good vs. evil of fantasy and resonates to real life struggles with inept leadership and misguided regulations that I think we can all identify with. In D&D terms this could be a lawful neutral character obstructing a good party by insisting they follow the law to a T...
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Post by GRWelsh on Jan 6, 2019 12:46:57 GMT -5
I finished Book 5 and started Book 6 today. The Department of Mysteries reminds me of those areas in dungeons that are mysterious to players and fun to design: tricks, traps, gates, and so forth -- like the stored prophecies, the time turners, the pool of brains, and the veil that hides who knows what...
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Post by Scott on Jan 6, 2019 13:46:15 GMT -5
I mined a lot from the Harry Potter books for the games I used to run for my nephew and cousin.
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